Wii 2/Project Cafe Rumors Continue to Amass

Rumor city: processor, release window, price and new name added to the pot.

Dear god, this is when I hate gaming journalism. But thus is the way this industry works, so for the sake of thoroughness, I’m going to report on these latest Wii 2/Project Cafe rumors which have landed on the doorstep of IGN. Again, this is all rumor and speculation, no matter how convincing/plausible it all sounds. Until we officially hear from Nintendo about the new system, keep that in mind.

IGN is reporting, via their reliable sources, some specific specifications for the upcoming mystery Nintendo HD console. Firstly, their sources are claiming that the system could cost anywhere between $350 and $400 (standard console hardware launch prices) based on the manufacturing costs. The systems will be shipping from a Taiwanese manufacturer, Foxconn, this October. IGN is saying that this could lead to Wii 2/Project Cafes being on store shelves as soon as mid-October/early November of this year. Or, Nintendo could just be stockpiling systems to allow developers more time to work on games for the console. Therefore, an early 2012 release is more likely. But, let us not forget that the initial rumor reports for Project Cafe pegged the system for a late 2012 release. Wires are crossed somewhere. Sort. It. Out.

“IGN has learned that the system will be based on a revamped version of AMD's R700 GPU architecture, not AMD's Fusion technology as previously believed, which will, as previously reported, out perform the PlayStation 3's NVIDIA 7800GTX-based processor. Like the Xbox 360, the system's CPU will be a custom-built triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset, but the clocking speeds will be faster. The system will support 1080p output with the potential for stereoscopic 3D as well, though it has not been determined whether that will be a staple feature.”

It’s now rumored that Wii 2/Project Cafe/”It” will be comparable to the size of the original Xbox 360 and is likely to resemble a “modernized” Super Nintendo.